2024 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage
- Encounters for Broadening the Horizon of Intangible Cultural Heritage
On October 17 and 18 in Small Performance Hall at the National Intangible Heritage Center
The 2024 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage will be held in Eolssumaru Small Performance Hall at the National Intangible Heritage Center in Jeonju, Republic of Korea over two days on October 17 and 18, hosted by the Korea Heritage Service (Administrator CHOI Eung-Chon) and organized by the UNESCO-ICHCAP (Director-General KIM Jisung).
The World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage, in its 8th year, is a representative international academic event in the Asia-Pacific region that shares the current status of intangible cultural heritage in each country and discusses ways to safeguard and transmit this heritage. This year’s forum will also be attended by a large number of intangible cultural heritage experts and key figures from around the world, including the Director of the UNESCO Bangkok Office. The forum will be held with a variety of events in conjunction with the “2024 Intangible Heritage Festival.”
The theme of the 2024 forum is “Migration: Broadening the Horizon of Intangible Cultural Heritage.” Approximately 30 participants from 14 countries will attend, including academics, intangible cultural heritage specialists, and facilitators from UNESCO, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and various related organizations. They will present various human migration situations and cases of safeguarding and adapting self-identities through intangible cultural heritage, and will discuss how intangible cultural heritage has contributed to maintaining the diversity of culture as well as future prospects.
The first day of the event will officially open with a Keynote Presentation by Feng Jing, Director of UNESCO Bangkok Office, on “Migration: Broadening the Horizon of Intangible Cultural Heritage.” This will be followed by Session 1 on the theme of “ICH as Records of Human Lives amid the History of Migration,” consisting of presentations by Alissandra Cummins, Director of Barbados Museum & Historical Society and two other speakers, with the aim of examining the history of the safeguarding and transmission of intangible cultural heritage in the Caribbean, Irish, and Indian Diasporas. In Session 2, the theme of “The Role of ICH as a Means of Inclusive Migrant Societies” will be discussed by Ronald Gan, Member of the National Heritage Expert Committee of the National Heritage Department and two other speakers.
On the second day, a Special Lecture with the theme of “An Elevated Agenda for Migration: Migration and the Pact for the Future” will be given by Marie McAuliffe, Head of the Migration Research and Publications Division, IOM Headquarters in Geneva. Session 3 addresses new perspectives and challenges on the transmission of intangible cultural heritage related to the recently discussed migration phenomena with the theme of “Future Forms of Migration and the New Topographical Map of ICH.” Finally, a Special Session with the theme of “Achievements and Challenges of Migration Research and Projects in Korea” will share the achievements and significance of immigration-related activities carried out from various perspectives with invited officials from research institutes, museums, international organizations, and education offices that are working on projects in immigration and multiculturalism in Korea.
The 2024 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage will shed light on the role that intangible cultural heritage has played in maintaining cultural diversity and peace between cultures throughout the history of migration, and will foster discussion for a new leap forward into the future.
Prospective attendees may register in advance at the official forum website (https://ichworldforum.org) from October 1st or may participate by simply completing the registration process on-site on the day. The forum will be livestreamed via the Korea Heritage Service and UNESCO-ICHCAP YouTube channels. For more information on the forum, please inquire with the Korea Heritage Service (Tel: 063-280-1692) and the UNESCO-ICHCAP World Forum team (Tel: 063-230-9742, 9749).
As this is the first forum since the transition to a national heritage system, the Korea Heritage Service will continue to work with the UNESCO-ICHCAP to proactively develop a future-oriented discourse on national intangible heritage and build a network among countries.